GH1 with hack, or second HV20?

[Daniel Rutter]

Hey guys;

I'm really considering adding a second camera to my kit bag, since I've found event shooting to be a pain with only one camera (or rather, one decent camera and one that can't keep up).

I'm looking at the GH1 for it's DOF capabilities (which add that nice artistic flare to music videos, closeups on short films and cinematic shots on wedding videos), it's 1080p capabilities and the fact that I can hack it. Now, I've read some horror stories by fellow members about this camera... but I want to hear it from actual owners: Does the footage stand up with footage from the HV series? I'll be using both to their fullest potential, I need to know if they will happily compliment each other with little-to-no-trouble.

On the other hand, I'm thinking about grabbing myself another HV (although prices are way out of my range -$1000-, and I can pick up A GH1 for under $700AU). I have a HV30 already, so I know what to expect.

Lay it out straight for me. I really need to know before I set my heart on it.

Thanks guys.

[Karel Bata]

If you decide to go the HV route, check out the Canon eBay shop for their reconditioned cameras. They are as good as new - I got one there.

[simulacro]

i would get the gh1 for night shooting, in case of low light situations...

using an old 50 mm lens. the stock lens of the gh1 is reallyyy slow. happy new year!

[drapeama]

i would get the gh1 for night shooting, in case of low light situations...

You can manage to get a very usable and decent picture, even in low-light with an HV; you just have to know and play with the settings. I know, i've recorded some sequence, with my DOF adapter on, and it turned out to produce decent results.
Anyway, in low light, you always need at least some lights to achieve something decent, so.
And as the hack for the HV20 add some nice features, i'd say just try to get a used HV20 and spend the rest of the money on additional equipment; mic, recorder, preamp, lights...

my two cents.

[Daniel Rutter]

I'm actually pretty deadset on the GH1 after reading up on it and the hack. I feel that each camera has it's strong and weak moments, the HV30 for high action and movement style shots, wide shots and quick panning. The GH1 comes in handy for closeups, DOF style shots etc...
I already have a Zoom H1 coming to me, so in the audio department, I'm covered for a while. I may buy another mic to complement my Rode VM in the coming months... but we'll see how that goes.

[drapeama]

I may buy another mic to complement my Rode VM in the coming months... but we'll see how that goes.

Try to get an hypercardioid for indoor, performs very well. I'm using one boosted with my JuicedLink and it produces a very sound for dialog.

[Daniel Rutter]

Try to get an hypercardioid for indoor, performs very well. I'm using one boosted with my JuicedLink and it produces a very sound for dialog.

Yea... The Juicedlink setup isn't something I want to be tied up with right now. It's an expense that I may chalk in on my next job, considering I'm currently doing live band videos... and feeds from the soundboard are too hot for my recorder.
*sigh*... this business always costs too much money

[CRFilmProduction]

I bought a new unhackable GH1 at panasonic's store for $380 with tax, body only. At that price it's a bargain. It has it's problems, but at that price, I can work around those problems. Darn...I now see you're overseas. You can't get that price, U.S. only.

In this case, you'd probably be better off with a T2i or spend a little extra cash and get a body only GH2. They're working on a new hack, and once they get that down it will probably blow everything in it's price range out of the water.

This is a basic test I did with the new GH1 and some old manual lenses I bought, vs the HV20 in the same situation. I probably could of got a better shot out of the HV20, but this was a quick test and at basic setups the GH1 blew the HV20 out of the water at low light, but keep in mind the GH1 has the worst low light of all the new DSLRs.



The biggest problem is you get certain "fixed pattern noise" at low light. It's not just grain, it's like you took a shot of a plaid shirt, overlaid it on the footage and then made it sightly transparent so you could just barely see the pattern and it can make a really ugly shot. And some camera's are worse than others and it's a crap shoot what you get. I got one with mild problems, but I'm learning more and more how to minimize those problems.

I'm satisfied with the camera for the price I bought it, but if you can't get it at a similar price, I'd go for the GH2 or at least a Canon T2i.

[Daniel Rutter]

Kicking this thread back up, as I've finally made my decision.

I'm purchasing myself a GH1 from the US B&H store in the next few days, I have $500 to spend... and I want to get a memory card and a battery.
Here's my dilemma:

I want to hack this camera so I can benefit from those extras (Whatever extras they are). Can someone PLEASE point me in the right direction for a "Hack the GH1 for simple idiots" type tutorial? My googling doesn't find much, and I can't find an absolute dedicated site or thread that gives me the information I need on what the hack can do.

Also, being this is my first step into the memory card-based camera territory, for my GH1... What would be the ideal FIRST card to get. I can expect $430 of my budget to go bye-bye on the camera... what kind of card can I get for the $70 left over that will work WITH this camera?

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

[net]

Can someone PLEASE point me in the right direction for a "Hack the GH1 for simple idiots" type tutorial? My googling doesn't find much, and I can't find an absolute dedicated site or thread that gives me the information I need on what the hack can do.

Here you go (scroll down a bit for the instructions):
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread...11-cameras%29&

You need a dvxuser account to see the images and download the patches that are in that thread.

Make sure you have a fully charged battery and have the auto EVF to LCD switch set to off before you do the hack (the function that automatically changes from LCD to eyecup when you are near the eyecup/have that off before hack - you can put it back after the hack if you want).

Also, being this is my first step into the memory card-based camera territory, for my GH1... What would be the ideal FIRST card to get. I can expect $430 of my budget to go bye-bye on the camera... what kind of card can I get for the $70 left over that will work WITH this camera?

Get a class 10, definitely. I don't know if it's an ongoing sale, but I went to B&H a few weeks ago and bought some SanDisk Class 10 Extremes and it was $11 off if I purchased 2 or more (which came out to about $35 each):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...HC_Memory.html

Keep in mind that if you end up doing a hack with a high bitrate (for example the 100mbps hack) it will make larger files on the card/take up more space.
One card won't cut it/even with the lower bitrate hacks. This also means more computer storage.


Although patches are optional for the hack, you kind of need to install one to see results.
Get a dvxuser account and install the "Reliable In-Camera Playback Patch - version 2" - it's not a crazy high bitrate but it's a good start.

If you need help with the hack - just ask.
The process looks a lot more complicated at first than it actually is.

[Daniel Rutter]

Keep in mind that if you end up doing a hack with a high bitrate

I'm thinking about low 40s... maybe 30s... I don't want majorly big files and I don't have a massive amount of HDD space right now (on the list to get though).

So if I get maybe one 16gb card for now (I'll just be doing messing around at home for now, nothing extreme like a film shoot or event). I'm also thinking, what about batteries? What's the best 3rd party battery that will last a good 2-3 hours (I have two 4 hour batteries for my HV, can I get 4hr ones for the GH1?)?

Also, in regards to lenses. B&H are selling this baby without lenses... so I'm looking for the absolute best bang-for-buck lens to start me off. I was looking for an 18-55 type lens, but the best I can find is a 14-42... is it possible to pick up a good "kit" lens (I was thinking 18-55) that I can shoot with and generally not have hassles with?

[drapeama]

So if I get maybe one 16gb card for now [..] I was looking for an 18-55 type lens, but the best I can find is a 14-42... is it possible to pick up a good "kit" lens (I was thinking 18-55) that I can shoot with and generally not have hassles with?

1) 16gb will be enough to start with. You'll only have to transfer the files more often.
2) The 18-55 kit lens on the T2i is a very great starter kit: 18mm allow you to get enough in the frame and the 55mm is quite the same as the bare HV without a WA lens. Then, check for some adapter and if it fits on the panasonic, there's a lot of good old lenses like Nikon/Pentax mount that can give nice results (bokeh/flares) and they're all manually controled (aperture/focus). These lenses can be bough for cheap and using an adapter you can have a various set of lenses to use with your camera.

[Daniel Rutter]

1) 16gb will be enough to start with. You'll only have to transfer the files more often.

Thats what I had hoped. I don't particularly need heaps and heaps of cards right now, I want to focus on at least TWO lenses to start off and a high cap battery.

The 18-55 kit lens on the T2i is a very great starter kit:

When I shot with a Pentax K-7 a few weeks ago, the lens it came with was a standard 18-55, and I liked the nice wide angle I was getting. I also have this Nikon F55 sitting in my cupboard with a Nikkor 28-80 3.3-5.6 (G) lens on it that I may try out.

One other thing I'm also looking at for future purchase and/or DIY project is a Lens hood and rails system of some sort. If anyone has suggestions to any and/or all of my questions... please share them.
Thanks all.

[net]

I'm thinking about low 40s... maybe 30s... I don't want majorly big files and I don't have a massive amount of HDD space right now (on the list to get though).

That reliability patch I mentioned is 40mbps max.

What's the best 3rd party battery that will last a good 2-3 hours (I have two 4 hour batteries for my HV, can I get 4hr ones for the GH1?)?

The GH1 has an internal battery compartment, so they can't build out bigger batteries like the HV30. The only way to get more power is to buy more batteries. As far as 3rd party batteries, you're only going to end up saving somewhere near 10 or 15 dollars versus the Panasonic brand which is about $40.
The generics aren't worth it, especially because many of them won't tell you how much time is left on the power.

Also, in regards to lenses. B&H are selling this baby without lenses... so I'm looking for the absolute best bang-for-buck lens to start me off. I was looking for an 18-55 type lens, but the best I can find is a 14-42... is it possible to pick up a good "kit" lens (I was thinking 18-55) that I can shoot with and generally not have hassles with?

If you mean the Canon 18-55, then you would also have to buy an adapter.

The Panasonic Lumix 14-42 is the cheapest Panasonic/US $199. You can only get auto focus and image stabilization with one of the Lumix lenses for these cameras.

With a Canon lens, for example, on a GH1; you would always have to manually focus and there would be no OIS. I have the 14-42; it's decent but the more expensive ones have wider aperture/better for low light.

You could pick up a cheap lens/with a cheap adapter on ebay if you just want something to use.

[kenkyusha]

Daniel,

I have both GF1 and GH1 (they work nicely as B and A cams for static event coverage, respectively) that we routinely use inexpensive Nikon-M4/3 adapters with them (the 50 f1.4 on GH1 makes some nice images!). The advantage of, for example, the 14-45 is the relatively large focal lengths that it covers (w/ the 1.9 crop, it is about equivalent to 26.5 - 85.5mm) and built in OIS- shooting video with a stills camera is not optimal, this helps a bit. The major downside is speed, but at that price, it's a fairly solid one to have in your kit bag (along with some faster primes, money permitting).

As far as 3rd party batteries, you're only going to end up saving somewhere near 10 or 15 dollars versus the Panasonic brand which is about $40.

Not to be that guy, but LA Colorshop sells batteries (for use by hacked GH1) for $6 each... a price I found compelling.

Be well,
Jigme

[net]

Not to be that guy, but LA Colorshop sells batteries (for use by hacked GH1) for $6 each... a price I found compelling.

Wasn't aware, looks like a good deal if you want to get some 3rd party batteries.

[Daniel Rutter]

Thanks again to those who've helped me out. I'm now just waiting on recieving my new cam, then I'ma have me some fun with it.

[drapeama]

I'm now just waiting on recieving my new cam, then I'ma have me some fun with it.

That's for sure! I haven't used my HV40 until yesterday since I've received my T2i...But I now have a new toy to use with the HV...

[net]

Daniel, looks like you got one of the last ones; B&H is listing the GH1 as discontinued:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_Camera.html

[Daniel Rutter]

I'd say that was a bit of luck eh? I'm glad I bit the bullet when I did, otherwise I'd have lost out.

[drapeama]

I'd say that was a bit of luck eh? I'm glad I bit the bullet when I did, otherwise I'd have lost out.

Yeah! I'm glad you've been able to buy one before it gets discontinued. You picked it up on B&H right?

[Daniel Rutter]

You picked it up on B&H right?

Yep. It should be here tomorrow or Monday

[drapeama]

Yep. It should be here tomorrow or Monday

Tomorow as you're in Autralia, it would be monday here, due to the Canada's Day.

[mfrantz2361]

I just got a GH1-hacked to 13 two weeks ago myself. It goes right along my HV30 and Canon XHA1. I can say that I am thoroughly pleased with it. Good luck Daniel with your new acquisition.

[Daniel Rutter]

Good luck Daniel with your new acquisition.

Thanks buddy.

Well it arrived yesterday, but I'm still waiting in an adapter so I can put my lens on it. Once that turns up, my first use with it will be taking photos of my family. I haven't installed the hack yet, no need to tease myself when I won't be able to use the camera, eh??
Also bought a Sandisk Extreme Class 10 16gb card for 55 bucks, which should be here next week along with the lens adapter.

I wanna thank everyone for helping me make this decision. I've wanted a second camera for months, and now I finally have it and have no excuses not to get out and film something.

Hehe!